EXPLAINED: What's Next for Ukraine’s Dnipro Bridgehead?

After weeks of rumors and reports, Kyiv has finally officially acknowledged that Ukrainian marines have established a bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnipro River occupied by the Russian army.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian army said it had pushed Russian soldiers back "three to eight kilometres" from the banks of river.

This would mark the first meaningful advance by Ukraine’s forces in months after the counteroffensive was earlier this year.

So just how significant is this development?

According to the best open-source reports, the Ukrainian Marines have pushed two groups of infantry, each numbering between 100-300 men, into a pair of enclaves on the left bank (the east bank) of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region. The enclaves are about 20 km apart and don’t support each other.

There have been scattered reports of a few light armored vehicles and military 4WD automobiles getting ferried across, as well as light artillery or mortars. For the most part, the Marines are dug in and defending themselves with small arms, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and anti-tank rockets and missiles they carried over the river.

Also, the Marines are defending themselves with drones, both observation drones for spotting targets for artillery on the right bank of the river, and with home-made kamikaze drones, which an operator can fly into a Russian position or vehicle, blowing it up.

In the video above we look at the progress of Ukraine’s operation, its key objectives and challenges.

An in-depth written version report by Stefan Korshak can be read here.